Kansas boy discovers 15-foot marine reptile fossil from 85 million years ago during geology field trip

A Kansas boy searching for fossils during a geology club field trip stumbled onto something far bigger than expected: the remains of a 15-foot-long marine reptile that swam an ancient sea 85 million years ago.

Corbin Bullard was just 11 years old when he spotted several large vertebrae protruding from rock at a quarry near his hometown of Clearwater, Kansas, during a September 2025 outing with the Sedgwick County 4-H Geology Club.

"I didn't know what it was, but I knew that it was something big," Bullard told FOX Local.

Over the course of three additional excavation trips, Bullard and fellow club members carefully uncovered nearly an entire tylosaurus, a massive marine reptile that ruled the seas during the Cretaceous Period.

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The fossil measured more than 15 feet long and included everything from the animal's enormous skull to most of its skeleton.

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The ancient predator lived roughly 82 million to 87 million years ago, according to researchers who dated the specimen to the Smoky Hill Chalk formation, a fossil-rich layer of rock that stretches across parts of Kansas.

The discovery emerged from a quarry where commercial crews routinely shave away layers of rock, exposing relics hidden for millions of years. Before Bullard's find, club members had mostly uncovered shark teeth and fish fossils.

Now 12 and preparing to enter seventh grade, Bullard plans to display the fossil's skull at the Sedgwick County Fair in July.

"I hope [the judges] say that it looks really nice and that we put a lot of effort into it," he said.